Listowel fears it will run out of water during festival
Some 4,000 people in north Kerry, including the town of Listowel, remained without water yesterday after two large pumps on the River Feale failed on Saturday night. Water was expected to be restored to all customers by late last night, Irish Water said yesterday afternoon.
The agency warned about low pressure, discolouration, and the possibility of airlocks in plumbing as the reservoirs refill and water returns to houses.
The water from the Feale is pumped to a treatment plant but both pumps failed for reasons yet unknown, said a county council spokesman. The council is assisting Irish Water on the issue.
Water tankers arrived in Listowel, Tarbert, Knocknaure, Lisselton, and Finuge on Sunday. Small tankers arrived in schools yesterday morning and an alternative supply was diverted to the local hospital. The Civil Defence assisted in the distribution of bottled water.
A council spokesman said one of the pumps had been repaired in Mallow, Co Cork, and replaced at midnight — it was working but reservoirs had yet to fill.
A spokeswoman for Irish Water said the pumps, which are more than 30 years old, are already on its planned investment programme but will now be fast-tracked and would probably be installed within three months instead.
The reason for the failure is being investigated, including whether dirt got into the mechanics.
A standby pump is being brought in for next week’s Listowel Races. The festival is worth €9m to the local economy, according to Fianna Fáil councillor Jimmy Moloney, who said it has to be a priority.
Fine Gael councillor Aoife Thornton said questions had to be raised with Irish Water after it emerged works had to be done on one of the pumps last week.
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